Buying a printer in Kenya is easy, the hard part is deciding which printer model is right for you. Our printer shopping guide is intended to help our customers make better, informed buying decisions. In our 5-year experience of selling printers, below are the key factors we recommend you look out for.
Key Factors to Consider
Use (home or office ? ):
A common question we ask our clients is what they intended to use the printer for. Let’s go over each use case.
(i) Home Use
If the printer is for home use, consider a low volume, small-sized printer with features such as Wi-Fi (wireless) capability. We highly recommend inkjet printers such as the Epson Ecotank L3250 or the Canon G3420. Inkjet printers are very economical when it comes to ink, require low maintenance and can print high quality colored outputs. Moreover, inkjet printers are available in the Kenyan market from as low as Ksh. 15,000. You can check out our best home printers for 2024
(ii) Office Use
Printers are a must-have for any small or big company. Laserjet printer models are the best for busy workplaces that do regular printing on a daily basis. Laser printers are advantageous because of their speeds and their high quality print outputs. For small offices, an inkjet printer will suffice. Keep in mind, this will mean you have to sacrifice on speed. Go over our top office printer picks in 2024 to learn more.
Print Volume:
Print volume is also another key aspect. How many print outputs do you intend to make in a day or monthly basis. For home users, their printing needs are less, thus a low volume printer is enough. A low volume printer typically means It’s capable of printing around 100–1000 pages per month. Offices and busy professionals are recommended to consider a high volume printer. High volume printers print 1,000 -5000 pages per month like the hp m428fdn
Print Quality:
Quality of print outputs should a main consideration, especially for companies like marketing firms or shop owners of cybercafés. On the printer documentation, check on the resolutions supported. Print resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi). Inkjet printers usually have higher dpi’s and can print up to 5760 × 1440 dpi, when compared to laser printers.
Print Speed:
A printer’s speed is measured in pages per minute (ppm). Laser technology printers are the fastest, with some able to print up to 50 pages per minute. If you have a high number of print jobs, typically in an office setting, consider laser. For home users and small offices, print speed may not be of a big concern, a 10-25 ppm printer like the Epson L3250 will suit you well.
Connectivity Options:
This also another area where a lot of people make mistakes. Common connectivity options on a printer include: USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and mobile printing. USB connectivity comes standard on all printers nowadays. Additional technologies like Wi-Fi and Ethernet are optional. For home or small office, Wi-Fi enabled printers are the most viable option. Medium to large offices should consider a printer with Ethernet connectivity. Ethernet/network enabled printers offer better security.
Cost (long-term):
Just like a car, a printer needs to be maintained. An office printer for example needs regular maintenance when compared to a home printer. Typical long-term costs include: ink/toner replacement, paper costs, drum unit replacement (for laser printers) and print-heads. You need to ask your printer dealer how much these items would cost in the long-run.
Size and Design:
Size and design is not something people look at mostly when buying printers, unlike laptops. Today we have small printers like deskjets that can easily fit an office desk. We also have big printers like the canon imageRUNNER 2425i which can occupy a big chunk of space. All-in-all, the size of the printer will highly depend on its features/hardware. These can include: number of paper trays, functionality, and maximum supported paper size.
Additional Features to Look For
A. Duplex Printing:
Modern printers have double-sided printing capability also known as duplex printing through the addition of a document feeder component. Duplex printing can be divided into manual and automatic. Auto means you don’t have to flip the paper to print on its opposite side, the machine does for you. Manual duplex however means you will have to flip the paper by yourself whenever you’d like to print on both sides. The biggest advantage of printer that supports auto-duplex is it gives you savings on paper costs.
B. Supported color outputs:
Printers can support either color or black and white printing. We have seen customers buy a printer without asking whether it can support color printing. They end up realizing it only supports monochrome/black-and-white printing. It’s therefore paramount that one looks at the printer’s technical specs.
C. Paper Handling Options
Lastly is the printer’s paper handling options. This comes down to the capacities of the input and output paper trays and also its numbers. Small printers like Epson Ecotanks usually have only 1 paper input and output trays, with them able to handle up to 100 sheets at once. Big printers on the other hand like the Kyocera Ecosys M4125idn can handle up to 1,600 sheets and can support additional paper trays.
Conclusion:
Choosing the right printer involves considering several key factors mentioned in our printer shopping guide above. Factors such as use case (home or office), print volume, print quality, speed, connectivity options, long-term costs are important. By carefully evaluating these factors, you can select a printer that not only meets your current requirements but also provides value and efficiency in the long run. For more information browse our collection of: hp, canon, kyocera and epson printers.
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